Abstract
Scholars of international relations have long recognized the importance of soft power in great powers’ hegemonic designs. In contrast, we know little of middle powers’ employment of ...noncoercive strategies of attraction and, in particular, how soft power operates in the context of middle-power antagonism. We suggest that, first, soft power enhances coalition-building strategies for middle powers. Contrary to expectations that states join forces against a shared threat, the use of soft power via development aid produces an “Us” versus “Them” distinction in target states that unites them in the absence of a common enemy. Second, middle states’ soft-power strategies are likely to support coalition maintenance so long as it does not challenge target states’ national interests. Utilizing extensive archival and interview-based data, we examine how soft power featured in Egyptian–Israeli competition across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) from 1957 to 1974. We demonstrate how soft power operates beyond the context of great power agenda setting, therefore providing novel evidence for the importance of soft power in the interplay between interstate antagonism and noncoercion in world politics.
What is the role of non-state actors in the international politics of labour migration in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries? This paper employs a 'migration diplomacy' framework in order to ...examine the politics of regional mobility while interrogating the assumed centrality of the state in this process. It focuses on labour migration into the United Arab Emirates and draws on a range of primary sources in order to identify four types of non-state actors that seek to maximise their interests within the workings of Emirati migration diplomacy: public-private partnerships, namely the Tadbeer ('procurement') centres; corporations within the Emirati construction sector; business elites managing subcontracting companies; and, finally, non-governmental organisations and foreign consulting firms. The paper identifies how each of these four sets of actors pursues strategies that are able to strengthen, supplant, or undermine the state's formal migration diplomacy aims. Furthermore, the Emirati case debunks the myth of the state as a centre of power in Gulf migration management via the kafāla ('sponsorship') system. Overall, the paper demonstates how a range of non-state actors can navigate migration management policymaking, thereby underlining the complexity of Gulf migration diplomacy.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
How does emigration affect the politics of the country of origin? This paper argues that emigration is constitutive of subject-making processes within the sending state. Steering away from ...instrumentalist approaches that treat it as a prudential act, cross-border mobility is here examined as licensed political participation. By engaging in (or abstaining from) migration, citizens embed themselves deeper into specific social norms and practices as defined, discursively and substantively, by governmental policies. The act of migration, thus, allows citizens to infuse meaning into distinct social orders and engage in subject-making processes. The empirical case of modern Egypt demonstrates how such an approach can shed light upon the ways through which political structures are affected by emigration in non-democracies. In the divergent approaches to migration under President Nasser and, later, under Presidents Sadat and Mubarak, lie two different normative 'constructions' of the Egyptian subject: the frugal, self-sufficient Egyptian who rejects emigration under Nasser is contrasted with the self-interested, profit-seeking Egyptian subject-migrant under Sadat and Mubarak. By highlighting this opposition through the framework of cross-border mobility, this paper seeks to shed light into the multiple resonances that migration has as a subject-making process, and enhance our understanding of the politics of emigration under non-democratic regimes.
In rollover prevention systems, a real-time lateral load transfer ratio (LTR) is typically computed to predict the likelihood of a vehicle to rollover and, hence, initiate rollover prevention ...measures. A traditional LTR largely relies on a lateral accelerometer signal to calculate rollover propensity. A new predictive LTR (PLTR) is developed in this paper, which utilizes a driver's steering input and several other sensor signals available from the vehicle's electronic stability control system. The new PLTR index can provide a time-advanced measure of rollover propensity and, therefore, offers significant benefits for closed-loop rollover prevention. Simulation results are presented using the industry-standard software CarSim to demonstrate the benefits of the new PLTR index. Experimental results of open-loop comparisons between LTR and PLTR indexes are presented, followed by experimental results on the closed-loop implementation of a PLTR-based rollover prevention system. The results in this paper document how a predictive rollover index can be developed and the advantages of such a system in rollover prevention.
Employing a Gramscian framework this analysis argues that economic liberalization in Tunisia under Zine El Abidine Ben Ali allowed for a deeper penetration of state power into society, introducing ...novel modes of control during a climate of economic uncertainty which, labelled an 'economic miracle', was to be defended at all costs. It examines two institutions central to the reform process - the Tunisian Solidarity Bank and the National Solidary Fund - making the argument that, by associating the 'miracle' discourse with a variety of pre-existing narratives, the regime ensured compliance, invalidated dissent and prolonged its repressive grip on power.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
In active rollover prevention systems, a real-time rollover index, which indicates the likelihood of the vehicle to roll over, is used. This paper focuses on state and parameter estimation for ...reliable computation of the rollover index. Two key variables that are difficult to measure and play a critical role in the rollover index are found to be the roll angle and the height of the center of gravity of the vehicle. Algorithms are developed for real-time estimation of these variables. The algorithms investigated include a sensor fusion algorithm and a nonlinear dynamic observer. The sensor fusion algorithm requires a low-frequency tilt-angle sensor, whereas the dynamic observer utilizes only a lateral accelerometer and a gyroscope. The stability of the nonlinear observer is shown using Lyapunov's indirect method. The performance of the developed algorithms is investigated using simulations and experimental tests. Experimental data confirm that the developed algorithms perform reliably in a number of different maneuvers that include constant steering, ramp steering, double lane change, and sine with dwell steering tests.
Do states in the Global South learn from each other regarding the management of forced migration? Although research has shown that refugees have recently been recast as an economic benefit for ...non-Western host states, little scholarly work exists on whether and how such a normative change is adopted across regions. In this article, we identify the diffusion of refugee rent-seeking behaviour, namely the use of host states' geopolitical position as leverage to extract revenue from other states in exchange for maintaining refugees within their borders. We identify three types of diffusion - learning, cooperation and emulation - occurring at state, regional and international levels across the Global South. Drawing on a range of primary sources, we demonstrate the working of these three types across a range of empirical examples drawn from the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa and South America. Overall, we identify a rising trend in the commodification of forced migration across refugee rentier states, while highlighting the need for further interregional research on policy diffusion outside the Global North.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Objectives: Programme budgeting and marginal analysis (PBMA) is a priority-setting toolkit which aims to assist decision-makers in identifying the most efficient use of resources. The last systematic ...literature review on PBMA was published in 2001 and evaluated success in applying PBMA using the criteria of 'reallocation of resources' or the 'setting of priorities'. Our objective was to re-evaluate applications of PBMA in terms of these criteria separately, summarize different evaluation methods of PBMA and extend the above review by considering all PBMA applications since 2001. Methods: Systematic literature review. Information was sought from four general medical electronic databases. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used. Results: PBMA was successful in 52% of cases when success was defined in terms of the participants gaining a better understanding of the area under interest; in 65% of cases when success was defined as 'implementation of all or some of the advisory panel's recommendations'; in 48% of the studies when success was defined in terms of disinvesting or resource reallocation; and in 22% when success was defined in terms of adopting the framework for future use. Conclusions : The rate of success is clearly influenced by how success is defined. There is a need for a broadly accepted definition of success to be used when evaluating PBMA applications so to enable direct comparisons of studies. This evaluatory component needs to be adjacent to PBMA and not a separate procedure.
Despite Greece's centrality in Eastern Mediterranean history and politics, the evolution, characteristics, and rationale behind the country's relations with the Arab world have yet to be identified. ...This article examines post-World War II Greek foreign policy towards the Arab world across four key periods (1945-80; 1981-89; 1990-2018; and 2019 onwards). It builds on a historical institutionalist approach to argue that Greece's relationship with the Arab world has remained a pillar of the country's diplomatic strategy, albeit instrumentalised in terms of Greece's two main foreign policy goals in the post-World War II era: maintaining the country's Western orientation and navigating the vicissitudes of Greek-Turkish relations. Thus, the Arab world has traditionally been approached by Greek policymakers in a profit maximization manner that sought to either amplify Greece's relationship with Western powers or respond to Turkish initiatives in the region. Aiming to provide the first systematic overview of Greek diplomatic strategy towards the Arab world, the article highlights the importance of path dependence in evaluating Greek foreign policy initiatives towards the Middle East. It also seeks to contextualize Greece's current attempts to forge a proactive role across the region by providing necessary historic nuance and a comparative perspective.
PDF
